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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 270 of 714.

Cover of Host and Guest

Host and Guest

A. V. (Andrew Valentine) Kirwan

A seasoned nineteenth-century diner shares decades of global culinary observation, blending practical advice on selecting ingredients and managing cellars with a spirited critique of historical and contemporary dining traditions.

Cooking & Drinking6 min read
Cover of Isabella Orsini: A Historical Novel of the Fifteenth Century

Isabella Orsini: A Historical Novel of the Fifteenth Century

Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi

A tragic historical chronicle of the Medici family, this narrative reconstructs the dark fate of Isabella Orsini, a woman caught within the lethal machinations of sixteenth-century Italian nobility.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin

Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin

Walter Besant

Two great world powers clash across centuries for control of a single sacred city, where faith, blood, and ambition forever alter the course of history.

History - Other7 min read
Cover of John Brown's Raid

John Brown's Raid

United States. National Park Service

A failed abolitionist insurrection at a federal arsenal becomes the spark that ignites a nation, tracing the path from quiet conspiracy to a public execution that haunts the American consciousness.

History - American6 min read
Cover of King Lear

King Lear

William Shakespeare

An aged king’s impulsive decision to divide his realm among his daughters unravels into a harrowing descent into madness, betrayal, and familial ruin. It remains a definitive exploration of the fragility of power and the limits of human endurance.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Late Lyrics and Earlier, With Many Other Verses

Late Lyrics and Earlier, With Many Other Verses

Thomas Hardy

The ghosts of the past walk through these pages, whispering of lost loves, fading memories, and the relentless, quiet passage of time. They are not merely recollections, but living echoes that haunt the present.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Literary Celebrities of the English Lake-District

Literary Celebrities of the English Lake-District

Frederick Sessions

This collection of biographical sketches gathers the scattered threads of a literary landscape, offering a window into the lives and minds of the writers who found their inspiration among the peaks and valleys of the English Lake District.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Manassas (Bull Run) National Battlefield Park, Virginia [1953]

Manassas (Bull Run) National Battlefield Park, Virginia [1953]

Francis Wilshin

This historical record chronicles the two pivotal Civil War battles fought at Manassas, exploring how these fields became the site of both a shocking Union defeat and a masterful Confederate tactical achievement.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Mary Lamb

Mary Lamb

Anne (Anne Burrows) Gilchrist

This biography offers an intimate, compassionate portrait of a writer whose brilliance was inseparable from the crushing weight of her mental illness and the lifelong devotion of her brother.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Modern educators and their ideals

Modern educators and their ideals

Tadasu Misawa

A sweeping study of modern pedagogical thought traces how major European and American thinkers reshaped the way societies cultivate the minds and bodies of the young.

History6 min read
Cover of My Friends the Savages: Notes and Observations of a Perak settler (Malay Peninsula)

My Friends the Savages: Notes and Observations of a Perak settler (Malay Peninsula)

Giovanni Battista Cerruti

A wanderer abandons the comforts of civilization to live among the indigenous peoples of the Malay Peninsula, trading the known world for the unpredictable, shadowed depths of the jungle. This account captures the delicate, often perilous boundary between a colonial observer and the remote forest dwellers he calls…

Adventure6 min read
Cover of My War Experiences in Two Continents

My War Experiences in Two Continents

S. (Sarah) Macnaughtan

A woman of deep reserves and sharp observation leaves the comforts of London to confront the visceral reality of a world at war. She finds herself not in the halls of power, but in the mud of the front.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of On Compromise

On Compromise

John Morley

The struggle for personal integrity requires a willingness to stand apart from the crowd, even when the path to truth demands the sacrifice of social comfort and conventional approval.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of Penelope's Experiences in Scotland: Being Extracts from the Commonplace Book of Penelope Hamilton

Penelope's Experiences in Scotland: Being Extracts from the Commonplace Book of Penelope Hamilton

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

A trio of American friends traverses the landscape and culture of late 19th-century Scotland, finding their own romantic and personal lives transformed by the country’s rugged charm.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Personal Friendships of Jesus

Personal Friendships of Jesus

J. R. (James Russell) Miller

This meditation explores the intimate, human side of a divine figure, examining the bonds he forged and the transformative power of his companionship. It serves as a devotional guide for those seeking to mirror that same grace in their own relationships.

Religion/Spirituality7 min read
Cover of Raemaekers' Cartoons: With Accompanying Notes by Well-known English Writers

Raemaekers' Cartoons: With Accompanying Notes by Well-known English Writers

Louis Raemaekers

A collection of searing political cartoons from the First World War, this volume documents the moral outrage of a neutral observer witnessing the systematic dismantling of European civilization. Each image serves as an unflinching indictment of state-sanctioned violence and the erosion of human decency.

Art6 min read
Cover of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume IX, Mississippi Narratives

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume IX, Mississippi Narratives

United States. Work Projects Administration

These direct testimonies from former enslaved people in Mississippi record the lived textures of bondage, the upheaval of emancipation, and the complex realities of life in the post-Civil War South.

Biographies5 min read
Cover of Some Reminiscences

Some Reminiscences

Joseph Conrad

A master of the sea and the pen reveals the origins of his dual life, reflecting on how a sailor becomes a writer and how the right word can alter the world.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Southern War Songs: Camp-Fire, Patriotic and Sentimental

Southern War Songs: Camp-Fire, Patriotic and Sentimental

Unknown

The cadences of a lost nation echo through these verses, capturing the fierce pride, the domestic grief, and the defiant humor of a people at war. This collection serves as a rhythmic ledger of the Southern experience during the American Civil War.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Stair-building and the steel square

Stair-building and the steel square

Fred T. (Frederick Thomas) Hodgson

Whether you are restoring a historic home or simply curious about the geometry of the built world, this guide offers an essential, hands-on look at the foundational craft of traditional stair-building and timber framing.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts

The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

In the wilderness of early America, an observant traveler listens to a vanishing world and records its voices, traditions, and enduring spirit before time alters them forever.

Archaeology & Anthropology10 min read
Cover of The Art of the Story-Teller

The Art of the Story-Teller

Marie L. Shedlock

This guide treats the oral tradition not as a classroom chore, but as a high art form that demands both rigorous preparation and the intuitive soul of an artist. It reveals how to hold a child’s attention through the power of the spoken word.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays

The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays

John Joly

The Earth is a vessel of hidden clocks, from the salt in the sea to the radioactive decay within its very stones, all ticking toward a vast and ancient understanding.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of The Driver

The Driver

Garet Garrett

A visionary industrialist fights to build a railroad empire in the shadow of the 1894 economic collapse, facing both the hostility of Wall Street and the crushing weight of his own family’s resentment.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The etiquette of engagement and marriage

The etiquette of engagement and marriage

G. R. M. Devereux

Navigating the delicate social minefield of Victorian courtship and marriage requires both tact and tradition. This guide offers a comprehensive manual for those seeking to secure a partner while upholding the rigorous standards of the era.

How To ...6 min read
Cover of The Grotesque in Church Art

The Grotesque in Church Art

T. Tindall (Thomas Tindall) Wildridge

The grotesque figures staring from ancient church wood and stone remain mysterious, hiding profound mythic origins beneath their strange, distorted features. This exploration invites readers to look past the surface of medieval carvings to discover the remnants of forgotten belief systems preserved in our cathedrals.

Art7 min read
Cover of The Jacquard Machine Analyzed and Explained: With an appendix on the preparation of jacquard cards, and practical hints to learners of jacquard designing

The Jacquard Machine Analyzed and Explained: With an appendix on the preparation of jacquard cards, and practical hints to learners of jacquard designing

E. A. (Emanuel Anthony) Posselt

This technical treatise serves as an essential manual for understanding the mechanics and design theory of the Jacquard loom, a pivotal invention in industrial textile manufacturing. It functions as both a blueprint for machine operation and a guide for the aspiring designer.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of The Keepsake

The Keepsake

Anonymous

Clear moral instruction meets the vivid domestic world of Regency-era childhood in a sequence of verse vignettes that balance parental discipline with outdoor play.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Log School-House on the Columbia

The Log School-House on the Columbia

Hezekiah Butterworth

This evocative tale of the Pacific Northwest follows a young woman and a devoted teacher as they navigate the volatile landscape of pioneer settlement, indigenous relations, and the encroaching dangers of the 1840s.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I: Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns

The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I: Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns

Pöllnitz, Karl Ludwig, Freiherr von

A refined, wandering nobleman offers an intimate look at the shifting political alliances and private lives of eighteenth-century European courts, blending travelogue with the sharp-eyed gossip of a seasoned insider.

Biographies7 min read
Cover of The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)

The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)

John Skelton

A riotous, sharp-tongued parrot holds court for Tudor England, unleashing a torrent of multilingual satire against corrupt prelates, courtly fools, and foreign rivals.

British Literature7 min read
Cover of The Student-Life of Germany

The Student-Life of Germany

William Howitt

A vibrant, unruly, and often dangerous world emerges from these pages, capturing the singular, fleeting epoch of German university life during the early nineteenth century.

German Literature6 min read
Cover of The Suppressed Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Suppressed Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

The discarded verses of a master poet reveal the restless, searching spirit beneath the polished surface of his later, celebrated works.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The Wolf's Long Howl

The Wolf's Long Howl

Stanley Waterloo

This collection of stories explores the collision between ancient human instincts and modern civilization, capturing the strange, often turbulent evolution of the human spirit across vast stretches of time.

Novels6 min read
Cover of Turrets, towers, and temples

Turrets, towers, and temples

Unknown

A grand monument is never merely stone; it is the living memory of human faith, imperial triumph, and inevitable ruin.

Architecture7 min read
Cover of Walking Shadows: Sea Tales and Others

Walking Shadows: Sea Tales and Others

Alfred Noyes

The shadows cast by the Great War define this collection, revealing the quiet, unreckoned lives caught in the machinery of a world gone dark. These stories find dignity and sudden clarity in the face of an encroaching, mechanized terror.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of War Days in Brittany

War Days in Brittany

Elsie Deming Jarves

The Great War is a tragedy of blood and iron, yet in the quiet corners of Brittany, it reveals a resilient humanity that refuses to be extinguished by the shadow of the trenches.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Watched by Wild Animals

Watched by Wild Animals

Enos A. Mills

The wilderness is rarely a silent place, but rather a theater where the observer is constantly being watched by the very creatures he seeks to study.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of A guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the city of New York: Fifth Edition

A guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the city of New York: Fifth Edition

Edward Hagaman Hall

A monumental American structure rises slowly through faith and stone, transforming ancient Gothic architectural traditions into a living, democratic sanctuary for a modern metropolis.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of A History of the Durham Miner's Association 1870-1904

A History of the Durham Miner's Association 1870-1904

John Wilson

How a fragile union of British coal miners transformed into a powerful industrial force through thirty-five years of patient organization, fierce strikes, and reasoned conciliation.

History - British6 min read
Cover of A Lady of England: The Life and Letters of Charlotte Maria Tucker

A Lady of England: The Life and Letters of Charlotte Maria Tucker

Agnes Giberne

A clever, spirited English woman resolves in girlhood to overcome her plain looks through goodwill, only to reinvent herself in middle age as a prolific author and intrepid missionary in northern India. <Image alt="Portrait of Charlotte Maria Tucker" caption="Charlotte Maria Tucker (A. L. O. E.)"…

Biographies8 min read
Cover of A New Witness for God (Volume 1 of 3)

A New Witness for God (Volume 1 of 3)

B. H. (Brigham Henry) Roberts

When institutional religions fracture and abandon their initial spark, a solitary voice must step forward to claim that divine revelation has returned to repair a broken world.

History - Religious7 min read
Cover of Adventures in Friendship

Adventures in Friendship

David Grayson

A quiet journey through the Massachusetts countryside reveals that the deepest human connections and most profound truths are hiding in plain sight along everyday dirt roads.

American Literature7 min read
Cover of Akbar: An Eastern Romance

Akbar: An Eastern Romance

P. A. S. van (Petrus Abraham Samuel) Limburg Brouwer

This historical romance offers an immersive portrait of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, blending the intrigue of a sprawling imperial court with the philosophical struggles of a ruler seeking truth in a world of clashing faiths.

Historical Novels6 min read
Cover of Alec Forbes of Howglen

Alec Forbes of Howglen

George MacDonald

A boy’s reckless vitality and a girl’s quiet devotion navigate the harsh pieties, frozen rivers, and sudden drownings of a small Scottish town.

British Literature8 min read
Cover of Beacon Lights of History, Volume 12: American Leaders

Beacon Lights of History, Volume 12: American Leaders

John Lord

Great leaders do not shape history in a vacuum; they are forged by the fierce economic, legal, and regional friction of their eras.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Black Rock: A Tale of the Selkirks

Black Rock: A Tale of the Selkirks

Ralph Connor

A small band of men and women wage a fierce, high-stakes battle for the souls and sanity of rough timber-cutters and miners trapped in the lawless wilderness of Western Canada.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of Buffon's Natural History. Volume 09 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

Buffon's Natural History. Volume 09 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c

Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

Nature's intricate variety emerges through rigorous observation, tracing the fine boundaries where species meet, diverge, and adapt.

Nature/Gardening/Animals5 min read
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